Latest Walk: Noah’s Ark

Today’s walk in the Petworth area required some late modifications, after I discovered on the previous Monday that the intended pub for the lunch stop (the Noah’s Ark) was booked up until 2:45 pm, which would have been way too late for us to eat! I decided to stop at the Halfway Bridge instead, which turned out to be an excellent choice. This however required that the walk be inverted and a westward detour incorported into it, which led to some confusion on the way.

The walk started from Petwork Park car park. We had to walk north along the road for a short way, before turning into Pheasant Copse, opposite Limbo Farm. This was where the first problem arose, as we missed the turning north along the footpath and ended up looping round. We then encountered an irate groundsman, who seemed as confused as we were! Fortunately, we were then quickly able to orientate ourselves, and the walk up to Lurgashall was then straightforward.

The second problem arose on the walk south from Lurgashall to the pub at Halfway Bridge. We discovered that the bridleway we were intending to follow was shut for repairs. Fortunately, there proved to be a short detour round this that avoided the problem. The rest of the walk before lunch was relatively straightforward.

The Halfway Bridge was not a pub that I had visited previously, but it proved to be very good, and the food was enjoyed by the group. The subsequent walk back to the start was far shorter than the first half of the walk, and concluded with a walk through the park, accompanied by the sound of rutting stags.

Many thanks to everyone who came on the walk. If you did attend and would like to comment, feel free to do so.

Well navigated James through some lovely countryside. A few setbacks with the annoying ranger and the closed bridleway. You certainly led from the front!
The rutting stags were certainly demonstrating their vocal abilities.